The Full Moon 5K was advertised as a halloween fun run for 500 people. With over 800 registered, it became interesting. Lots of great people and lots of great costumes combined with crowded trails for a race that was going to be slow.
I normally use Galloway’s run/walk. Tonight, I tucked behind a couple and skipped my walk breaks. It was dark so I could not see my watch; I did not know what pace we were running, but it felt fast and comfortable. The route included a fair number of sidewalks and a running path, but that meant about 90% of the run was on concrete. There were a few short sections on grass, and there were sections early where we had to run on the grass due to the congestion on the sidewalk. There was even a bridge over Rose Creek along 25th street that was so narrow, everyone had to slow to a walk.
At the 1.6 mile point, the lady decided she needed to walk and the couple slowed down. I had trouble squeezing between them and another pair of walkers, but continued on. There were multiple points in the course where I had to slow and break stride to deal with getting around or through people. We were warned via email that the huge response meant the course would be crowded.
The course measured 3.18 mile on my GPS, putting my finish time of 37:37 about equal to my time on Saturday at the LAP Trick and Trot. I was pleased with my splits; I ran pretty consistent 12:02 for the first 16 minutes (although there was one bad 12:28 in there), then accelerated to about 11:42 for the next 16 minutes, had one minute of walk at 16:30, and then finished the last 5.5 minutes in 11:03 pace. I was frustrated at first with my finish time because I felt like I had run a lot faster.
Warm-up sucked badly. Legs were sore and tired and I did not feel like I was going to even be able to run a full 7 minute run segment that my plan called for. Then the sun went down, it got 5-6* colder, I took off one layer and my legs felt better. Which makes me wonder if “listen to your body” is only doomed to make me more confused.
Instead, I went out and ran 31 minutes, walked one, and then accelerated the last 5 ½ minutes to the finish. So I am not ready to threaten my 5k PR yet, but I have had a fall where the speed differences are basically due to weight loss and when I add speed work over the winter and spring, I will be interested in seeing what I can do.
I started 682 of 702 finishers, and finished 564th, passing about 118 during my run. I also started 49th out of 50th in my age group and passed 4 to finish in 45th. I was very harsh on myself when I rated it last night, but I think I will go back and change my ratings a bit.
The race was fun, it would be a great family event for future years if I can get Paige and/or Cooper to run with me.
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